Under ‘White Supremacy’ the Democratic Republic of Congo became the most industrialized country in the continent after South Africa. And that under Black Supremacy, it went from that to being nominally the second poorest country on the planet.
Those who read Mister will remember than in my future dystopia Herge’s Tintin in Congo circulated in the underground as a banned text. This was not entirely without reason, as in real life one Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Congolese citizen based in Belgium, has since at least 2007 been on a crusade to get the comic book banned.
According to the latest AFP report:
Lawyers for Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Congolese citizen who brought the charges, claim the book to be “a justification of colonisation and of white supremacy” that should be deemed racist under Belgian law and pulled off shelves.
Rejecting the charge as “a totally twisted reading” of the book, which has sold 10 million copies worldwide, the lawyer for the publisher and the copyright firm, Alain Berenboom, said Herge’s book was a mere reflection of his times.
While the publishers themselves
denied racism charges against the controversial comic book Friday, telling a Belgian court it reflected the “kind paternalism” of the 1930s, when it was penned.
snip
To me, however, the important question is this: Why does a man from Congo think he can come and live in Belgium and tell Belgians what comics they may or may not read in their own home?
Answer: because he can.